1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a breast prosthesis and to a method of forming the prosthesis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A very large number of women in the United States have had and will have surgical removal of the breast and the underlying muscular tissue. While such surgery is effective in curing the original malignancy, it often introduces severe psychological problems. In many cases, the person becomes very self-conscious of her appearance and can develop feelings of loss of femininity and the like.
These problems can, in many instances, be overcome or greatly reduced by a breast prosthesis which will be comfortable to wear, that can be used with almost any type of clothing without detection, and which will install confidence in the wearer. In addition to the obvious cosmetic use of a breast prosthesis, it should satisfy several other basic requirements. Its weight should correspond to that of the remaining breast and be distributed so that the upper body is balanced so as to feel natural to the user while walking or engaging in any physical activity.
The material from which the breast prosthesis is formed should approximate the characteristics of the natural breast in several areas. For example, it should be compressible under application of pressure and have a "feel" similar to that of the natural breast. In addition, its movement when the woman moves, walks, or runs should be in a generally vertical direction as occurs with the natural breast.
There have been a number of artificial breasts produced from various types of materials, many of which have attempted to meet some of the above requirements. One type, molded from a resilient plastic material, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,214 to Schaper, et al. and utilizes a hollow cavity in the form of a cup spring to achieve some of these desired characteristics. Others have been formed from laminated foam rubber as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,808 to Burman. A patent to Harris, U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,133 discloses a hollow plastic form filled with resilient wadding and a discrete weight to attempt to match the resiliency and weight of the natural breast. Spence has disclosed, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,209, an artificial breast formed from a gel material and covered with a porous elastic fabric cover. However, none of these or other known breast prosthesis meet fully all of the above listed requirements. Therefore, there is a great need for a method of producing a breast prosthesis which is as close as possible to the natural breast so as to contribute to an improved mental attitude, good personal feeling, and natural appearance of the user.